


Anyone but Hawke

by grimHarpy



Category: Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angry Fenris, F/F, F/M, Fade, M/M, hostage, long hair fenris, rescuing hawke, threat of death, vengeful fenris
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26271928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grimHarpy/pseuds/grimHarpy
Summary: Fenris doesn’t take the news of Hawke’s ‘death’ well. He... persuades the Inquisitor to help him search the Fade for his lover and it goes about as well as you’d expect
Relationships: Dorian Pavus/The Iron Bull, Fenris/Female Hawke, Fenris/Hawke, Josephine Montilyet/Female Inquisitor
Kudos: 26





	Anyone but Hawke

_Fenris,_

_Hawke fell into a rift at Adamant and stayed behind to save the Inquisitor and Stroud from a huge fear demon called the Nightmare. No one could have survived against that thing for long. I’m sorry you had to find out like this. I know she didn’t tell you she came to the Inquisition. Don’t do anything rash._

_Varric_

Fenris looks over the letter for what feels like the thousandth time. It’s crumpled from when he first read it but has since been flattened. It’s the only thing he brought with him other than his greatsword, the Blade of Mercy that Hawke had gifted him so long ago. He should be full of fury, but the closer he travels to Skyhold, the more numb he feels. 

The elf heard rumors of a precious romance between the Inquisitor and her ambassador during his travel through cities. He could exploit that connection as a weakness. Josephine Montilyet. From what he heard, she was a kind and gentle woman. It was a shame he would have to threaten her life. 

His hands and feet are numb with cold from tracking through the snowy mountains, but he ignores it as he carefully folds the letter and slips it back into his pocket. He shakes out his hands as the keep rises into view, trying to bring some feeling into them. The red strip of fabric he keeps around his wrist catches his eye. With a huff, he pulls it off and uses it to tie back his significantly longer hair. He needs to be ready. 

It isn’t long before he is crossing the drawbridge and a guard moves to stop him for questioning. 

“Hold a moment, and state your-“

Without missing a beat, Fenris phases a hand through the man’s chest and rips his heart out. He didn’t even stop walking. Another guard raises the alarm and soldiers come scrambling from the ramparts as he stalks up the stairs toward the throne room. They don’t last against him. 

“ **INQUISITOR!** ” 

His voice echoes through the hall as everyone within turns to look at him in shock. He barely notices Varric out of the corner of his eye before the dwarf darts in front of him. 

“Broody, this is exactly the kind of thing I said **not** to do!”

“Stand aside, dwarf.”

“She wouldn’t want you to do this!”

“Do not speak to me as if you knew what she would want!” 

Varric flinches at the sharpness of the elf’s tone, but is interrupted by another voice. 

“Let him through, Varric,” the Inquisitor calls, standing from her throne. 

Fenris brushes past the dwarf, striding swiftly over to the Antivan woman near the throne. He assumes this was Josephine and seizes her by the throat, to the alarm of everyone in the hall. The Inquisitor draws her sword as Fenris phases a hand around the ambassador’s heart and glares at the woman. 

“Lower your weapon,” the elf snarls. 

“Release her,” the Herald snaps as Josephine struggles to breathe. 

“I **will** kill her.”

“You’ll be dead before her body touches the floor.”

“You think I care if I live or die?”

His clawed hand tightens around the woman’s heart, making her whimper in distress. Tears linger in her eyes as she stares at her lover. The Inquisitor lowers her sword in defeat. 

“What do you want?”

“You’re going to help me save Hawke.”

“That’s not possible.”

“I do not care what you think is possible or not. Give me your word you will help, or I **will. Kill her.** ”

“...you have my word.”

Fenris releases Josephine and she stumbles back, clutching her throat and chest as she struggles to catch her breath. The Inquisitor rushes over to hold her steady, hushing her as she sobs. Fenris faintly hears a bowstring slowly release and turns around to see a hooded woman holding a bow and arrow still pointed at him. The woman’s eyes are hard and cold and full of fury. He has a feeling her wrath would be just as terrible to behold as his own. 

“We will depart immediately,” Fenris says evenly as he turns back to the Herald. 

“We will depart as soon as my people are ready,” the Inquisitor responds harshly and without room for argument. 

—

Adamant Fortress is old and battleworn. This courtyard took some time to reach, climbing over and around piles of rubble that had yet to be cleared. It has only been two weeks since the battle, so said the Inquisitor but Fenris is still convinced Hawke is there. Waiting. The Herald holds up her marked hand and Fenris witnesses its power for the first time. 

It pulls at his markings, setting them on fire as they glow that familiar ethereal blue. He bites back the scream of pain it wants to wrench from his throat. He would not reveal any vulnerability to the Inquisition. The elf looks back at the people behind him and the Inquisitor. They are all hiding various levels of nervousness. 

The rift opens like an oozing wound, tendrils sticking together across an angry gash. He squares his shoulders, drawing his greatsword in preparation before leading the way into the Fade. The pain in his markings spikes as he passes through the rift and he can’t help but flinch. He bites his cheek and tastes blood. 

“This is where we left Hawke,” the Inquisitor says quietly as the group settles into the clearing. “We had beaten a fear demon and we were exhausted. The Nightmare came back to block our path and someone had to stay behind and distract it. Hawke volunteered.”

Fenris hears a sliver of hesitation in that last statement.

“You’re lying,” he accuses, jabbing the woman in the chest. “You sacrificed her, didn’t you?”

“She volunteered to stay!”

“Then why is there guilt in your voice?”

“Broody, back off, we’re here to save Hawke,” Varric says firmly, stepping between them. 

Fenris scoffs and walks a few feet away. 

“We should retrace our steps from where we traveled before, if we can,” the Herald says commandingly, and the search begins. 

“‘Nothing could be worse than the thought of living without you,’” the demon they called Cole mutters from behind him after a while. “‘It will never happen,’ she promised.”

“Be silent, demon!”

“She didn’t want to leave you,” the thing insists. “‘I’m sorry, Fenris.’”

“Make your pet demon be quiet, Inquisitor. At the moment, nothing would please me more than to end it’s existence.”

“You throw around a lot of threats for someone who came to us for help,” the Tal-Vashoth drawls. 

“That’s just how he is,” Varric sighs. “Asking Broody not to make threats is like asking Sparkler not to wax his mustache.”

“The difference is that Dorian’s mustache makes him more attractive,” the qunari smirks. 

“Not now, _amatus_ ,” the mage chuckles lightly. 

“ _Fasta vass_ , will all of you shut up!” Fenris shouts. 

“Easy, Fenris,” Varric hushes. 

“I thought I recognized you!” The vint suddenly gasps. “You’re Danarius’s runaway!”

“Don’t,” the dwarf warns but it’s too late. 

The qunari steps in front of the mage before Fenris can get to him and the two glare at each other in a standoff. Fenris shifts his grip on his blade and huffs. 

“Danarius is dead,” he spits. “I saw to it myself.”

“I see… congratulations?”

“Do not mock me, mage, your qunari cannot always protect you.”

“Why are we helping this guy, boss?”

“I gave him my word and that’s all there is to it, Bull.”

“Sparkler, you might want to apologize,” Varric says harshly. 

“Of course,” the mage says nervously. “I don’t mourn Danarius’s loss, far from it. I didn’t mean any offense, Fenris.”

“Do not test me again. I will not hesitate to kill your ‘ _amatus_ ’ next time.”

“Watch it, _basra_ , that cocky attitude is gonna get you killed one day.”

“I do not doubt it. One day.”

“Can we move on please?” The Inquisitor asks wearily. “We’ve barely been here for an hour and you’re all at each other’s throats.”

“He makes it easy, boss.”

“I don’t care!” She snaps, making her friends cringe. “We’re here for one reason and we’re getting it over with!”

The longer they walk the more restless Fenris becomes. Fighting demons is easy, the seething rage under his burning skin egging him on. The Inquisitor and her troop are tiring after carving a path for hours but Fenris is relentless. They reach a clearing at the bottom of a set of stairs. 

“This is where we first fell into the Fade,” the Inquisitor sighs. “I don’t know where else she could’ve gone, Fenris.”

“We will keep looking, she is here somewhere.”

She says nothing, but he sees her give Varric a meaningful look. 

“Broody, we’ve been looking for hours and there’s no sign of her. We can’t stay here forever.”

“There must be _something_ -“

Fenris stops mid sentence as he hears something behind him. More demons? He hears it again and his ears twitch. He looks around, eyes sharp and he makes out a hand in the distance. Immediately, he bolts towards it and there’s Hawke. Bruised and broken and bloody, but alive. Fenris pulls the mage into his arms and lets out a strangled sigh into the woman’s neck. 

“Andraste’s tits, I didn’t think we’d find you!” 

“Not like you to give up on me, Varric,” Hawke whispers, her voice hoarse. 

“How did you get away from the Nightmare?” The Inquisitor asks, baffled. 

“A story for another time, I think,” the Champion groans. “In the meantime I’d like to leave this cursed place.”

“Can you stand, _amatus_?” Fenris whispers. 

“Oh, so it’s fine when you say it,” the qunari scoffs.

“I’ll need to lean on you,” Hawke answers, ignoring that comment. 

“She knew you would come for her,” Cole smiles. 

“Enough from you, demon!” The elf snaps as he carefully lifts his lover to her feet. 

“Fenris,” Hawke sighs softly and Fenris takes a deep breath. 

“Let us leave this place.”

The whole journey back to the rift is in silence. Few demons were left after the path they carved. Occasionally Hawke needs to stop and catch her breath, and Fenris hovers over her like a mother hen. He knows the others most likely think he’s crazy but the elf doesn’t care. All that matters was that Hawke was alive. He can’t even be mad at her, at least for now. 

When they return to Adamant, Hawke is taken to the makeshift infirmary to be treated by the Grey Warden healers. Fenris stands guard in her room, letting no one but the healers in and occasionally Varric. She passed out when they got her to a bed and has been asleep for a day and a half. Sometimes he sits beside her bed, his blade in his lap, holding her hand in both of his and fighting to keep his emotions in check. 

He’s pacing back and forth the second day when he hears her groan and he’s instantly by her side. 

“Where am I?” She asks groggily. 

“Adamant, the Grey Warden infirmary,” Fenris answers blankly, and she grimaces. 

“You couldn’t have waited to take me somewhere else?”

“No.” His voice breaks, then he clears his throat. “You were injured and there was no reason to wait.”

“...I’m sorry I risked myself,” she whispers, reaching up to cup his cheek in her hand. “I thought it was the right thing to do. ‘Corypheus is my burden’, I thought. I released him, I carry the blame.”

“You are a fool if you truly believe that,” he snaps, making her flinch, but he holds her hand in place against his face. “You owe the world nothing. It has done enough to you.”

“It gave me you, Fenris,” she smiles sadly. 

“Never leave me behind again,” he frowns. 

“I promise. I love you.”

“I love you too, _amatus_.”


End file.
